This Kindle blog of Kindle Fire, Paperwhite, and other e-Ink Kindle tips and Kindle news - with links to Free Kindle Books (contemporary also) - explores the less-known capabilities of the Amazon Kindle readers and tablets. Ongoing tutorials, guides for little-known features and latest information on the Kindle Fire tablets and their competitors. Questions are welcome in Comments area.
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Thursday, August 1, 2013

In addition to the two articles I linked to on the July 29 blog article that included a look at the Chromecast device that Google priced so well ($35), David Pogue wrote a review this morning that also addresses real-world concerns and is quite positive. This device is still temporarily out of stock, but if you're interested in it, Pogue's more positive reviews tend to cause a rush to buy, and Amazon is taking pre-orders. Amazon says it doesn't charge your card until the item is shipped.

I use the HDMI microport on the Kindle Fire HD devices to show what I want from my tablets to an HDTV (including browsing of webpage) and it's pretty straightforward. This, if you use the Chrome browser on your mobile devices (including laptops) will also show your web content on a TV and it's very portable and will work with your phone and other tablets as well.

I'm including below the Chromecast info from the earlier post from this blog on July 29, with links to two other excellent articles at the bottom of it.

Chromecast is a 'dongle' that Google is selling for $35 that will stream some web video, music "and more" from a tablet, phone or laptop to a TV in many or most cases. Reviews differ so far.

Google was offering 3 months of free Netflix for this, even to those who already subscribe to Netflix.
They discontinued that free Netflix offer this last week (due to overwhelming demand), to much consternation, especially since people had bought (from Google, Best Buy, and Amazon, et al) one of these gadgets with the expectation of getting that Netflix promo.

Here is the upshot, on how Amazon will handle the Netflix promo for those who bought before the cancellation was announced:

' Netflix Promotion No Longer Available
Please note that the Netflix promotional offer (which was available in limited supply) has now ended. Customers who ordered their Chromecast prior to 5:31 PM PST on July 24, 2013 will receive a Netflix gift code via email within 5 days of their product's ship date. '

If you bought it from Google, their policy is: "Orders placed before 1PM PST on 7/25 will receive their promotion code once their order ships."

Two excellent articles on Chromecast
Here's a very informative set of explanations of what Chromecast does and how it does it, by RJ Raphael - "Android Power" column, at Computerworld.
Also, one titled "... but not for everyone," by Craig Lloyd for Slashgear, includes some caveats.

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